UNH field hockey second in poll

Friday

Aug 22, 2014 at 2:00 AM

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The University of New Hampshire field hockey team, led by 24th-year head coach Robin Balducci, was picked second in the 2014 America East Field Hockey Coaches' Preseason Poll that was released Thursday.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — The University of New Hampshire field hockey team, led by 24th-year head coach Robin Balducci, was picked second in the 2014 America East Field Hockey Coaches' Preseason Poll that was released Thursday.

UNH, the defending America East champion and winner of the last four conference regular-season titles, received 20 points.

The University at Albany, the runner-up in last year's conference championship, unanimously collected all five first-place votes. The University of Maine garnered the other first-place vote and followed the Wildcats in third place with 18 points. Fairfield University (13 points), University of Massachusetts Lowell (8) and the University of Vermont (6) round out the six-team ballot.

Voting was conducted by the conference's six head coaches, who were not permitted to vote for their own team.

UNH, with a 19-1 aggregate conference record the past four years, returns seven starters and 14 letterwinners overall from the 2013 squad that went 15-7 overall and 5-0 in America East.

Maegan Grew, a Winnacunnet High School grad from Hampton Falls, joins fellow seniors Kellie Joyce and Carlie Tarbell in trying to extend the Wildcats' streak of consecutive double-digit win seasons to six. Grew, an America East All-Conference Second Team selection in 2013, anchors UNH's defensive unit. A linchpin of the penalty corner unit, the back has started all 64 games the past three seasons.

Joyce, a conference Second Team honoree as well in 2013, serves as a cornerstone in the midfield. Starting in all 64 games for UNH, Joyce is one of two primary stick-stops on the offensive penalty corner unit.

Defending the cage, Tarbell looks to continue her defensive prowess in 2014. The 2013 America East Goalkeeper of the Year and NFHCA Northeast Region First Team selection led the league in save percentage (.745) and ranked second in goals-against-average (1.85) last season. The netminder finished with a 15-7 record and six shutouts, including five straight. Tarbell's conference-only statistics were staggering at 5-0 with a 0.39 GAA, .895 save percentage and four shutouts.

The four-team America East tournament will be held Nov. 6 and 8 at the highest seed.

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